AMD unleash low-end assault – Radeon HD 4550, 4350

The new Radeon HD 4550 struggled in most of our in-game tests and benchmarks. It managed to pull ahead of the previous-gen 120 steam processor Radeon HD 3650 in a couple of tests, but more often than not the Radeon HD 4550 trailed our reference cards. SD and HD video playback was strong, however, as the Radeon HD 4550 put up a near perfect score in HQV and offered low-CPU utilization during playback of our 1080P H.264 video test clip.

…With that said, the Radeon HD 4550, especially the passively cooled version we tested, is an intriguing option if low power and / or silent computing is your goal. If prices ultimately settle in at the lower-end of the product’s expected range, this new entry-level card from AMD could make a good addition to a home theater or similar media PC.